2025
Having done the Dreadnought last year - everything felt easy in comparison.
Did some strong stuff! With the real highlights being
- Getting wind under the Legendary Inishmore stone, soaked to the bone, reeling from sea sickness and amidst gale force winds (beautiful Irish weather)
- Lifting the 151kg Fullsturker god knows how many times in Trafalgar Square for Jeremy Dellers ‘Triumph of Art’ for The National Gallery. Closed the show with a massive crowd with 5 reps. Blood, sweat and beers!
- Conquering Delilah. 183kgs of smooth stone. First man to do it.
- Breaking a world record. 43 unbroken spins on a 38kg Bulgarian Bag.
- Going well over Dinnie weight without hook grip.
- Appeared in Men’s Health lifting a big rock.
I did a bunch of heavy lifting - beat the shit out of myself and am enjoying this long needed week of recovery. I got pretty injured a few weeks before the world record attempt and realise I need to do a better job at recovery.
That been said, next year I will be trying to top this year! So standby for bigger, heavier and dafter.
Thank you to all that help from my brothers in strength.
@silverbackblair and @commandotemple who create and environment and way of being that inspire and underpin everything! I’d be weak as piss without them.
@chazwick87@bensavin_wellbeing@trashmanse8@alexstrambanu - I’m constantly surrounded by monsters that push me!
@mrbelgie@shaunusmaximus , Morgan, Darragh for the lifting!
All my awesome clients! You know who you are. Every one of them is a pleasure to work with.
@_indiana_stones_ for his guidance and along with @liam.brown2 for proving you don’t have to weigh 200kg to be brutally strong.
Bring on 2026
After my last training session of the year it’s nice to look back at some of the highlights. I’m always keen to beat previous years!
Whilst The Dreadnought was comfortably my main achievement, even outside of that - 2024 was easily the strongest year I have ever had.
- 230kg Zercher
- Weekly stone fun with Charlie and Morgan
- 10 Squats with the 165kg Coffin
- 180+kg Natural Stone to Chest
- 139kg to Shoulder
- 100m Farmers with 200kg
- Deadlifted a BMW
- Zerchered a Skoda
- Went well over the Dinnie weight on the handles.
I got well out of my comfort zone with some endurance
- Ran a half marathon on my own in a circuit in freezing fog til my beard iced over.
- Rucked a marathon on my own in a circuit.
- 3 day monster trek in the Peak District on heavily blistered feet.
- Endless hour+ long bouts of rowing, step ups, stairmaster, rucking, carries with Savin.
Worked on new skills
- Weekly gripping with Cyborg Handed Rob and Squad
- Bulgarian bags with Savin and Broome, with an immense workshop from @ivan.ivanov.suples
- BJJ with Alex and Aidan
- Judo with Marcus
My clients also absolutely killed it. From guys entering their first strength competitions, pulling buses, running marathons after breaking toes, repping out pull-ups, PB’s, building routines, losing fat and all being great apes!
I’ve loved ever minute of it!
All possible because of the absolute monster @silverbackblair and his zoo @commandotemple - The palace of mayhem.
Not forgetting my training partners/heroes/inspiration and all round beasts.
- @chazwick87
- @bensavin_wellbeing
- @trashmanse8
- @alexstrambanu
- @aidanwoodhouse
Merry fucking Christmas!
2024 will forever be the year of The Dreadnought.
The best/worst thing I have ever done.
God knows how heavy that log ended up being on your shoulders - Heavy enough to give you tension headaches and hurt your soul.
In teams of three - 20 mins on the back, 20 mins on the front, 20 minutes off. Rinse and repeat for 10+ hours a day, three days in a row across the beautiful Peak District. All weather, all terrain, flat, incline, decline. Photos/videos do not do the difficulty justice. I can’t explain how brutal it was.
I trained like a monster leading up to this - none of it came close to a ‘stint’ on the log. Only those that know - know.
My team mates @chazwick87 and @bensavin_wellbeing are insane forces of nature! We all stepped well and truly out of our comfort zone by taking on this challenge. Grateful I got to carry with two of my favourite people - couldn’t have done it without them! Running with the log on day 2 will forever by the most physically powerful I have ever felt.
None of this would have happened were it not for @silverbackblair - Aside from arranging everything, leading from the front, raising a crazy amount of money for charity, and being the genuinely unbreakable beacon of aspiration, he instilled the notion that all of us that took part were capable and resilient enough to get this monster done. For people like me, that had never done anything close to this - it’s the best coaching you can get. I pushed myself harder than I ever thought possible and did something I still can’t believe!
The last picture is one of my favourite of all time. The finish line with my boys!
Everyone that took part - Lunatics, the lot of you!
@_indiana_stones_ - A living legend that lives up to the legend.
David has been a huge inspiration for the @londonstoneclub at the @commandotemple and is the man that got me lifting stones frequently as my primary way of training. The man revived an almost lost tradition and his story is a truly great one!
We screened ‘Made of Stone’ with David and the director @will_hutchby at the gym - talked stones and shifted some big lumps of rock! We are proud to be the gym that broke his 5 year streak of not having lifted in a gym! Great energy and surrounded by fantastic people doing incredible lifts.
The film is fucking magical - and you should make it your business to get it seen.
An awesome evening all round. Can’t wait to see the footage from @jennycatlowphotography
#stonelifting #irishstonelifting #madeofstone #londongym
Anyone that lifts stones knows there is a lot more time spent NOT lifting stones.
This monster was half buried, and we were probably the first people to even think about trying to pick it up.
Undoubtedly the largest stone I have ever attempted. Didn’t weigh it and it’s hard to tell due to the shape, but (based off other stuff I have lifted) it felt well over 200kg.
Finding grips, balance points and footing is all part of it. It’s also exhausting, often leaving you plenty tired by the time you figure it out. Picking something up first time doesn’t have the same satisfaction to it.
I will come back, weigh and chest this for sure.
#naturalstonelifting #stonelifting #gripstrength #strongmantraining
Proving that us city dwellers can lift in the wild!
The @commandotemple is plenty equipped to build enough awkward strength to keep you sharp in the outdoors.
@bearwolfben@mrbelgie@londonstoneclub
No idea how heavy they were! Just that the one that only got lifted an inch was over 200kg and was by far the largest stone I have ever attempted to lift.
#naturalstonelifting #stonelifting #gripstrength #strongmantraining
Same stones - Different pick ups.
A testament to the stonelifting community. It’s awesome to see how others approach any given stone and put their own stamp on it.
183kg in the grips @iliftstones_forfun found. Really solid on to the lap, but harder to stand up. So damn smooth!
151kg by just rowing it up like @fat.boy.grim - saves a load of energy for shouldering rather than flipping it in the lap.
I straight up copied these guys and found new challenges with the same stones I have been lifting for some time.
Thank you fellas!
@commandotemple@londonstoneclub
#stonelifting #naturalstonelifting #gripstrength #strongmantraining #londongym
Stone Cold busting in with zero training to rough up some @commandotemple Category A weights…
#strongmantraining #stonelifting #gripstrength #londongym
COMING TO LONDON… an unmissable event for anyone interested in Stonelifting, Strength, History and Culture.
We are so proud to be welcoming David “Indiana Stones” Keohan @_indiana_stones_ to the Commando Temple.
David is one of the leading figures in the modern revival of traditional stone lifting — traveling far and wide to uncover historic stones and keep their stories alive. He embodies stonelifting and is a force of nature!
This is going to be one hell of an event!
🎬 Exclusive screening of the documentary on David’s journey: “Made of Stone”
🎤 Live Q&A: with David & director Will Hutchby
🪨 Big Stone Lifting Session: get hands-on after being inspired!
📍 Commando Temple, London
📅 Saturday May 16th
⏰ 6:00 PM
This isn’t your typical fitness event — it’s grit, history, and strength in its purest form.
LIMITED AVAILABILITY - Book your slot in the link at @bearwolfben bio or comment ‘STONE’ for details
#StoneLifting #StrengthCulture #CommandoTemple #Strongman #londongym
That’s the final lift tested and completed for the Temple Stone Gauntlet. 139kg Belas Stone for 4 lengths of the strongman arch.
Carrying has never been my strongest - so one of the tougher ones for me. Felt battered today so glad to get the final challenge checked off the list.
The @commandotemple Stone Gauntlet is 7 lifts on 7 different stones. We will be using this as a benchmark for any aspiring stonelifter that comes to London to work towards. It’s fun - it’s challenging and will bring out the best in anyone looking to build strength.
#naturalstonelifting #stonelifting #gripstrength #strongmantraining #londongym
203kg - Single arm ring - No hook.
Testing for the @commandotemple Stone gauntlet. 7 stones, 7 challenges.
#naturalstonelifting #stonelifting #gripstrength #londongym
